Wedsesday Coach's Corner-Goals

I made a promise to myself that I was going to do a Wednesday Coach's Corner blog. Of course, this Wednesday we traveled to Junior Nationals and I ran out of time. So this weeks session is Thursday.

Whether we are amateur athletes or pro, super serious or weekend warriors, we all have goals as athletes. For some it is to stay fit and be happy, but for many, these goals involve achieving something in our sport. The real art to goal setting is to find a way to push yourself without creating expectations and/or pressure. This is difficult and not always successfully done. Those of you who spend time reading my blog know that I have battled with this extensively and still do every time I toe the line. Here are some tips that I use myself.

The parts are less overwhelming than the whole.
We often spend our time goal setting about the results of our races. This is great, but remember that the whole can be an intimidating thing. It is often after a great result that we find ourselves looking back and  thinking "how did i do that." I like to try and look at the process more than the outcome. At the start of the year, I do often have outcome goals, but the real progression is in the how.

Look at swimming. We can have goal times as swimmers, but how are we going to get there. Where is that time for you? Is it in fitness? Walls? Power? Identifying what needs to improve and then attacking those pieces makes the goal feel more achievable. Analyze races based on whether or not your pieces were good. This is something that we can do whether we are shaved, tapered or peaked. When we work only on  times, there are parts of the year that will inherently be disappointing.

For me in cycling, I have to improve my handling and my starts, among other things. I may not have a great race result wise, but if my focus is in improving those areas, I can feel good about a race no matter my place and learn in order to continue to improve.

Never Use Place As a Measure of Success
We cannot ask more of ourselves than our best. Reaching our goals should be about us as athletes. Do not get me wrong I understand that we are all just a little tougher when we are racing. However, if your goal is to win or get a certain place, you are setting yourself up for failure.

Why?    Because you cannot control what the other people do. You may have a day when you are your best, but the people you are racing are not and you win handily. Is this a success? What if you were not your best? Is it still a success.

Let's look at this another way. If I go and race cyclocross in my childhood home of Upstate NY, I will probably place pretty well, but if I go race the Boulder Cup in the pro field I will be in the bottom 1/3. Which of these is a success for me? Which matters more, my place or how well I raced based on my small goals?

Tell The World What You Want and You Will Find People Willing To Help
I cannot remember who said this first but it is a hallmark of successful goal setting. Step one to this is honesty. Be honest with yourself about what it is that you want. Be sure you are willing to do the work and have the time necessary to achieve that goal. Then, tell people about it. Tell your friends, your teammates, your family and your coaches. You will find that people are very interested and who \ will give in order to help you find success. It is never real until it is spoken out loud.

These are a couple of the pieces inherent in good goal setting. There are many more. I would love to hear your opinions.

Also, come back on Wednesdays for more coach's corner blogs. I hope to cover swimming, triathlon, cycling and even find guest bloggers for topics like nutrition and sports psychology. Let me know if you have a specific topic you would like covered and I will do my best.